Workforce diversity is defined as differences between employees of an organization on the basis of functional specialty, age, sexual orientation, lifestyle & geographic origin, etc. In other words, those human characteristics that can make people different are covered in the area of workforce diversity.
Normally, there are two broader sources that result in variations among people. One of them is related to factors over which people have little or no control & the second one is based on factors over which people have control.
Workforce diversity can become harmful for productive teamwork in the organization if management cannot properly manage it. The affirmative actions taken by management are not considered to be effective diversity management efforts. Rather, these affirmative actions result from pressure from the government on organizations.
International competition & trends in the natural environment fall under the area of diversity. In short, workforce diversity can become a valuable asset for the organization by improving the functional units of the organization & identifying customer markets. You may visit here as well to learn about the different types of workforce diversity.
Sources of Work Force Diversity
In the modern age, diversity is much more than simple differences in skin color & gender. Besides this, it is utilized for defining all kinds of differences that are present in the human resource element of an organization like workers of color, dual-career families, women in the business environment, educational level of employees, older employees with disabilities, etc.
Following are some of the authentic sources that can lead to diversity in the workforce of an organization:
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Racial & Ethnical Groups
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Older Workers
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Gender
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Education
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Dual Career Families
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Religion & Culture
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Persons with Disabilities
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Immigrants
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Young Individuals with Limited Skills & Education
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Competitive Advantage with a Diverse Workforce
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Marketing
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Innovation, Creativity & Problem Solving
Each one is discussed one by one.
Racial & Ethnical Groups:
Mostly, employees with color differences are marked as employees belonging to different groups. In such cases, employees face misunderstandings & wrong expectations with each other on the basis of cultural differences & ethnic diversity.
Older Workers:
It is a fact that the overall population of the world is growing older, which has also directly affected the workforce in organizations. Therefore, certain new policies are applied in organizations to deal with this factor of workforce diversity like the reversal of early retirements.
Gender:
In large organizations, only 11.9% of corporate officers are women. On the other hand, managerial positions occupied at the middle & lower levels by women have been increasing for the past few years, which creates a diverse environment in organizations. Moreover, there are many single-parent families & most of them are headed by women. So, the number of women workers in organizations is increasing, which requires different sets of policies & work rules.
Education:
The educational level of employees is also becoming a source of workforce diversity within organizations. Within organizations, there are employees with very high educational levels and others with quite low educational levels. So this situation requires effective HR policies to keep the diversified workforce productive.
Dual Career Families:
Dual-career families affect organizations as both an opportunity and a challenge. Many organizations are making adjustment policies that facilitate the working of dual-career families. Some organizations allow both partners to work with the same company. If any partner is transferred to another location, the spouse is also assisted in transferring to a suitable position at the same location.
Religion & Culture:
As the world is changing into a global village, a new kind of diversity has emerged in the form of differences in religion & culture among employees. Organizations operating on a large scale in different locations promote such workforce diversity.
Persons with Disabilities:
Usually, a disabled person is not considered an effective worker & it is assumed that their disability becomes an obstacle to effective work. But now certain laws have been passed in Western countries, especially America, that prohibit discrimination against qualified persons with disabilities.
Immigrants:
The number of immigrants in developed countries is increasing, including more educated & skilled workers as well as less educated & unskilled workers. All these immigrants have the spirit to work hard & they bring their own cultural values & norms with them, which makes organizations diversified in many ways.
Young Individuals with Limited Skills & Education:
Young unskilled & uneducated individuals are hired by many organizations during peak seasonal periods, which creates a diversified environment & many other performance issues for the HR department of the organization.
Competitive Advantage with Diverse Work Force:
In the old days, organizations kept a diverse workforce due to legal & social aspects. But now companies focus on diversity to gain a competitive advantage. They favor an open & productive environment that shows value to diversified employees. Workers in the labor market also consider such organizations favorable. In this way, qualified & skilled workers are attracted to such organizations where they show effective performance, which ultimately gives these organizations an edge over competitors.
Marketing:
A diverse workforce can help organizations better understand diverse customers located in different geographical areas. Organizations with a multinational workforce can analyze the habits & preferences of different customers through their employees. In this way, more effective products are designed with more effective marketing campaigns for diversified customers.
Innovation, Creativity & Problem Solving:
Innovation & creativity are promoted through a diverse workforce because people with different backgrounds have different perspectives on certain problems. A diverse team holds wider experience in tackling different problems. When this team makes an effort to solve problems, it can develop more innovative options & solutions that cannot be considered by a homogeneous workforce.
